Who Is Amy Santiago?
From the hit television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, comes one of its main characters, Amy Santiago. Known for her colorful pantsuits and her talent for befriending school administrators, Amy is not just a standout individual; she’s renowned for her unwavering dedication and precision as a detective within the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Amy meticulously organizes every aspect of her professional and personal life, displaying an extreme commitment to perfection that often borders on obsession. Her constant pursuit of success and recognition from her peers and superiors, particularly her precinct captain, Captain Raymond Holt, stems from the external pressures she faced while growing up in a large American-Hispanic family. This highlights her character’s struggle for acceptance in both professional and personal settings. Throughout the series, Amy embarks on a journey of self-discovery and growth through various relationships within her workplace. She experiences personal and professional growth, forming close bonds with her colleagues, especially Detective Jake Peralta, with whom she eventually enters into a romantic relationship. Amy’s character development explores themes of vulnerability and the pursuit of acceptance, making her a beloved and relatable figure in the show.
Childhood
Throughout her childhood, Amy was subject to intense scrutiny from her parents, particularly her father, to follow in his footsteps as a detective. Victor and Camilla Santiago, are the spitting image of stereotypical traditional Hispanic parents, with their high, often unrealistic and damaging expectations. These expectations were further portrayed on Amy through comparison with her other 6 brothers. Amy’s parents brought favourites to another level, by decorating the family home’s mantle with images in order of the performance of the children. This created constant arguments, and competition in their home instead of a loving environment where the children were encouraged to grow. From Amy’s behaviour we see remnants of this trauma, with her constant need to appease her superiors and cater to their demands that often aren’t her responsibility. Even when Amy and her siblings got older, the desire to remain on the mantle was instilled in them. These siblings were and still are willing to do anything to get the number one position. Amy’s oldest brother, Lieutenant David Santiago, who happens to be the other sibling aside from Amy to follow in their fathers footsteps, is Amy’s biggest opponent to achieve the success of her parents’ affection. In s.6 ep.9, at dinner with David, and her parents, David’s Captain shows up and requests to speak to David. This is when informed that a large quantity of cocaine was discovered in his desk and placed him under arrest. For Amy, this was the best day of her life, she celebrated by doing her cheesy celebratory dance, as the golden child had finally been something other than golden. Later, it was revealed that he had been framed by the Brazilian mafia, completely crushing Amy’s hopes of becoming the golden child.
Personality
As a perfectionist, Amy’s decisions are calculated and expected. Nothing that Amy does is out of the ordinary or out of schedule for her. The time she arrives to work, wakes up, eats, and leaves to go home is all scheduled on a strict timeline that cannot be broken. These choices are all made with perfect precision and adequate consideration for contributing factors. This allows Amy to make deliberate choices, making her an amazing problem solver and decision maker. This demonstrates how Amy solves problems and creates fitting solutions and plans. An episode that exemplifies her meticulous planning and attention to detail is when Amy arrives late in the morning, and everyone speculates about why she is 70 seconds late. If it were any other colleague, this wouldn’t even be remembered, but for Amy, it becomes a spectacle. This incident occurred in Season 2, Episode 6, and Amy was late due to the longer than usual line at her weekly planned bank visit. These behaviours reveal a lot about Amy’s excellent decision-making and planning capabilities.
NYPD
Despite the strain and pressure around her, Amy Santiago perseveres to strive to reach her full potential in multiple ways. Amy is a consistent goal setter, attributed to her dream path planned before joining the NYPD. Throughout the show, we hear her referencing her ‘timeline’ of when she aims to accomplish certain milestones. One significant achievement we witness is her becoming a sergeant and commanding her own squad of officers, due to her demanding work ethic. Early on, she attempts to ask her Captain to become her mentor, showing her willingness to learn and ask for help. However, this sometimes causes her to undervalue herself, as seen when she asks for a letter of recommendation for a mentor-mentee program but is mistakenly written as a mentor instead of a mentee. This highlights her consistency and willingness to grow, even when others already see her in a leadership position.
Impact Of Identity
As a Hispanic-American woman, Amy’s behaviour is significantly influenced by her cultural background and surroundings. Working as a detective in the NYPD, she faces challenges in a male-dominated environment where she and her female colleagues are often marginalized and objectified. Amy confronts daily issues related to gender norms and sexism, which impact her professional life. In Season 6, Episode 8, “He Said, She Said,” Amy recounts a disturbing incident at her previous precinct where a male coworker engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior towards her after her promotion, leading to her transfer to the current precinct. These gender norms and instances of sexualization require Amy and her female colleagues to constantly prove themselves and maintain professionalism, unlike their male counterparts. Amy’s Hispanic heritage plays a significant role in her journey, as highlighted by her husband Jake’s acknowledgment of her inspiring influence on young Hispanic girls worldwide. This recognition deeply moves Amy, underscoring her belief in breaking stereotypes and empowering others to pursue their dreams.
Conclusion
In summary, analyzing Amy Santiago’s character through various perspectives offers valuable insights into her unique personality. These perspectives can each be attributed to certain aspects of her behavior and specific actions she takes. From childhood trauma to perfectionism, all of Amy’s behaviors have been rooted and instilled in her through methods like reward, societal and workplace norms, undervaluation of herself, and willingness to grow. By understanding her and her psyche, we uncover the influences shaping her identity and actions, from early experiences to present-day motivations. Each perspective provides a lens through which we can better grasp Amy’s complexities and the psychological dynamics that drive her behaviour.
Sources:
Brooklyn-99 Show
Photo by Mollie Sivaram on Unsplash